title: Losing your voice: etiologies and imaging features of vocal fold paralysis.
abstract: Neurogenic compromise of vocal fold function exists along a continuum encompassing vocal cord hypomobility (paresis) to vocal fold immobility (paralysis) with varying degrees and patterns of reinnervation. Vocal fold paralysis (VFP) may result from injury to the vagus or the recurrent laryngeal nerves anywhere along their course from the brainstem to the larynx. In this article, we review the anatomy of the vagus and recurrent laryngeal nerves and examine the various etiologies of VFP. Selected cases are presented with discussion of key imaging features of VFP including radiologic findings specific to central vagal neuropathy and peripheral recurrent nerve paralysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Behroze
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vachha
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Cunnane
authors.forename: Pavan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mallur
authors.forename: Gul
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moonis
keywords: Computed tomography; imaging; paralysis; recurrent laryngeal nerve; vagus nerve; vocal cords; vocal-fold-paralysis